"Alright," I said, settling down in front of the team in our little warehouse hideout. Finding acsomewhere abandoned in the city had always been my specialty. Will sat beside Saelene, and T stood to the side, arms folded.
"We've done the interviews, and you've agreed to the Binding Vows. Now I can tell you why I recruited you three specifically."
"I'm guessing it's not for our sparkling personalities," T said, and I smirked.
Will snorted. "Doesn't take a genius to figure it out. You want super-powered sidekicks."
"Not inaccurate, but not the whole truth either. Aliens. Meta-humans. Freaks. Geniuses. Billionaires. Magicians. Sorcerers. Politicians. Fighters. They all have one thing in common: force. They wield a considerable amount of it, directly or indirectly. And in the dark and dirty places of the world, that's what it often comes down to—"
"Is there a point to this speech, or?" Will cut me off with a smirk, and I flung a knife past his ear into the concrete wall behind him.
It nicked him, and he touched his ear, rage flashing in his eyes. He rounded on me, gritting his teeth as his fists ignited in flames.
He was about to swing when Selene called his name, and he stopped.
"The point of my little speech is that we're swimming in deep waters now, and I expect to run into people who make the Joker look like a saint. You're all one bad decision away from dying, and so am I."
I produced a vial of Blockbuster Serum. They all leaned in, even Will.
"But I've been working on a way to change that. What's inside this vial is powerful stuff. Powerful enough to let you go toe-to-toe with members of the Justice League, assuming you know how to throw a proper punch. But it's untested and unstable." I vanished the vial.
This was the kind of thing a typical leader would hold back, but my Binding Vows ensured they couldn't speak of it without risking instant death. I'd taken cues on drafting the vows from NDAs, paramilitary groups, and corporate contractor contracts.
Complete secrecy unless authorized. Inability to disobey a direct command without consequences. And very conditional severances, with compensation, of course.
"You don't want to test it on us, do you?" Selene asked.
"I didn't sign up to be some wannabe scientist's guinea pig," Will said.
"And I'm not asking you to be," I replied. "We'll take several precautions before we get to that point. And if everything goes well, half the time, you won't even need the strength the serum brings. We're going to be smugglers with a mean left hook, not two-bit villains."
Tyler shifted his weight. "Where do we start?"
"We need to find a doctor," I said. "Someone who can tailor this to our biology and possibly make more if we need it. And I've got a pretty good idea where to find him. We're going to Ivy's Underground Kingdom."
It sounded like suicide, but Hugo Strange was our best bet. Nobody knew the ins and outs of the formula better than he did, except for maybe Desmond.
If anyone could predict the side effects, it was him.
Plus, the team was in desperate need of training. I planned to put them through their paces, but nothing beats an open tournament to train out the weakness.
Will would do just fine.
As for me, I was going to take a meeting with Ivy, after taking several precautions, of course. I'd already restocked my grenade stashes.
The plan was to offer conditional free access to my services as payment for the misunderstanding and hopefully establish a working relationship with a Binding Vow.
Nothing too restrictive, obviously.
Ballsy, I know. But it's better to nip this budding enmity in the bud and hash out something beneficial for both parties.
—
A familiar face greeted me at the playground where it all started those months ago. Sally. She looked different now. Taller, better muscled, covered in root tattoos, wearing paramilitary attire.
The flash of anger in her eyes was unmistakable.
"Long time no see," I said with a smile behind my breathing mask and skin-tight suit. I wasn't a fool. I knew how Ivy operated. I wasn't going to let myself get whamied by bullshit pheromones and poisons, despite my ridiculous endurance.
She was flanked by Phillip and Jerry, who looked equally displeased.
"You've been busy since the last time I saw you," she said, voice steady.
"I can say the same thing about you," I whistled. "Still have that blade you gave me. Held up remarkably well."
"You shouldn't have come here," she said. "Not after last night. Ivy doesn't tolerate people who interfere with her business, and I don't like people who hurt my friends."
I looked at Phillip and Jerry. "They look fine enough. They were far away from the blast."
"Not them," she said through gritted teeth. "The vines and the roots. Hundreds died during your little heist."
"Ah. I see," I blinked. In retrospect, that was obvious. Ivy was the mother of all tree-huggers. It made sense her disciples were freaks too.
I produced a bag from nothing. It was filled with 1.5 million in cash. A chunk of my fortune, but well spent if it meant accomplishing my mission and gaining a new client.
They all shrank back, including the dozens I spotted in the bushes spying on our meeting.
"Do you think you can bribe us?" Sally demanded, hand reaching for her blade.
"No bribe. An apology and an offer of my services. I'm going into the transportation business," I said, tucking my hands behind my back. "I imagine that'd be very useful for people in your line of work."
Sally set her jaw and drew her blade, as did a dozen others. Clubs and batons were pulled free of their sheaths.
"Ivy's orders were explicit."
"This won't go your way," I said carefully.
"I was just about to say the same thing," Sally responded, springing forward. Her blade exploded from its sheath, startlingly fast. I casually flicked it out of my path before ducking under a swing from behind and lashing out with a kick, sending my attacker flying.
The world blurred as I twisted, dodged, and struck out with precise, non-lethal strikes, punting dozens of fighters across the park. But they simply got back up and piled on. They moved faster and hit harder than any regular human I'd fought.
Whatever Ivy was juicing them with, it was good. Not Venom-good, but reliable. Semi-permanent, even.
Still, I barely moved from my central position, letting the waves roll over me. As they upped their tempo, so did I.
Joints were sprained, limbs overextended, and concussions handed out liberally. Everything came to a screeching halt when I snapped Sally's blade in half and brought the broken half to Phillip's neck after dodging a heavy haymaker.
"Stop!" a familiar voice commanded, and a presence emerged from the darkness. Her eyes were piercing blue, her face flawless, her blonde hair shining like gold.
Ivy's lieutenant and League of Shadows recruiter.
"I've seen enough. Quite the improvement, Negative. It seems the surface has done you some good."
I shrugged. "It's not half bad."
"Have you given any thought to my offer?" she asked.
"I much prefer my independence," I said, "but you're welcome to procure my services."
"As an enforcer or a smuggler?"
"Fighting is the least interesting thing I can do."
She smirked. "Well. I don't know about that."